The Old Music Man
by SketchyMint
Summary: You can meet very interesting people if you are willing to listen to their troubles, stories, legends and... music.


**Disclaimer: Even though I would honestly love to own the Zelda games and all of the characters inside it I don't. (T_T) Nintendo is the rightful owner.  
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**The old music man**

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The streets were unusually busy today. There were people shoving each other in desperation of reaching to their desired shops before they close. Kakikaro village was normally a barren wasteland with the odd person leaning on a crumbling building however the majority of the village were celebrating some annual festival tommorow so everyone was making last-minute preparations. To his misfortune he had a world to rescue otherwise, he would have insisted on staying. Midna appeared as a shadow in front of him, not visible to any other person in the general public.

"Keep moving, we need to get to the graveyard before it gets dark," she exclaimed before Link was shoved by an overweight lady carrying some baggage on her left arm. He shot her a glance before turning to look back to the spot that Midna was standing only to find out she retreated into his shadow.

In order to avoid any more unwanted contact Link moved quickly past the crowd of people. He soon arrived at the gates of the graveyard, taking in the silence of the area. It was a nice contrast, compared to what was happening in the main part of the village. He walked a few more steps along the dusty ground until he heard faint music coming from a corner of the graveyard.

"What are you doing? We need to find the Zora," Link heard Midna cutting through his curiosity. He looked around him. The sun was getting dangerously low, nearing the horizon. Link thought that if he ran he may just have enough time to see who was making the music and find the Zora before he needed to find a place to rest. He sprinted.

What he eventually saw was a crooked figure sitting on a dead tree with some kind of instrument. He came closer until he saw an elderly man, grey hair poking out from the side of his face and his lips chapped and dry. He had an unkempt goatee and freckles dotted on his wrinkled face. Link was about to turn away until he heard the man talk.

"Ah, come close young man. I don't get much visitors here," the man spoke in a scratchy, broken voice. He could hear shouts of protest from Midna but he walked over to the old man.

He noticed the man had a music box that was most likely centuries older then the elderly man himself; it had many scratches and all of the edges were mangled nonetheless, the music that it caused was quite a treat to listen to. The music was created when the handle on the right of the instrument was turned and at the moment it was flowing in a perfect tempo.

"I have to say, you look a lot a lot like someone one important one of my grandfathers saw a few hundred years ago. The story has been in my family for generations. Apparently, it came all the way from the land of Termina. About some hero clothed in green garments. Pulled down the moon from the skies to save the world. Or at least that's how the legend goes." Link stared at the elderly man with curiosity homing in his gaze.

"But where are my manners? I should introduce myself first. My name is Marcus."

Midna was firing insults at Link inside his head but he ignored her, despite he fact that his good nature made him reluctant to do so. Instead, he listened to Marcus.

"What is your name young traveler " Marcus asked his hand still turning the handle of the instrument. Link opened his mouth to answer but Marcus's eyes widened briefly and he spoke up again,

"Never mind. There is no need, no need. A traveler should keep his name secret." Link stayed silent and sat down on the splintered log with Marcus.

"Do you see this music box?" Marcus gazed at the instrument he was still making a looped yet addictive tune from. Link nodded sharply.

"It's supposed to be as old as the legend of the hero from Termina. No-body remembers him much now. People can be very ungreatful." The melody sped up slightly as Marcus grew angry, his thin eyebrows lowering a few centimeters, however he calmed soon after and the tempo followed.

"It was rumored that my distant grandfather was playing the exact same melody when he met the hero." The music was slowed down as Marcus lightly pressed a finger onto his lips to indicate that what he told him now was to be kept between the two of them.

"After he bought the music box from a now long-abandoned shop called the Curiosity shop, he named the song after himself. Unfortunately, the name has been forgotten for a about a hundred years now."

The air was growing cold now as the sun fell behind Death Mountain. Midna (having given up on finding the Zora before nightfall) was commanding Link to go back to Kakikaro now before all kinds of monstrous creatures appeared from the darkness.

"This instrument has been handed down my family tree until it eventually reached me." After saying this the man's head fell and the song reached half the speed it would have been normally.

"Unfortunately, my son left me before I had the chance to give him this and now I'm worried that I will be the last person to play it's sweet melody..." Marcus sighed lamentably,

"My son was a good man, he just needed to go where he needed to go. Left his father behind," The music box was screeching with the effort of having to play the song so excessively slowly.

There was a strong gust of wind that tickled the remaining grass spokes hidden behind graves. The trees danced along with it eliminating any silence that would have been there naturally.

"I know!" The man exclaimed with sudden happiness and the song was sped up notably until it was twice as fast as the original.

"I'll give it to you," the man finished stopping his hand for a few significant seconds. Link gasped and straightened himself slightly, his wide eyes staring at Marcus. There was a short fleeting silence decorated by Marcus's large beaming smile and the rare whisper caused by the wind brushing along tree trunks.

Midna was also quiet, and that surely meant something.

After a few seconds the man somewhat hesitantly handed the music box to Link. Link wasn't sure what caused Marcus to give a stranger perhaps his most prized possession but one thing was definitely true:

He felt honored.

"Thank you for listening to an old man's rant but I suggest you go now. As you can probably see it's already night time now. Monsters will be crawling everywhere." After hearing this, Link turned to look at the man with concern knitted into his gaze.

"I'll be fine, trust me. I've spent quite a few nights in this graveyard," Marcus answered glimpsing at a recent grave with the words _'Knaves Guru, a loving son' _etched onto it with clearly cut writing.

Link examined the man's facial expression for a but longer, trying to conclude if the man really could deal with the dangers in this graveyard until he saw Marcus standing up with bitterness planted on his face.

"LEAVE THIS PLACE YOU FOOL!" Link turned on his heels and ran, still holding the music box in his hands. He was continuously sprinting as if he was being chased by Zant when he heard an old, scratchy voice from behind him.

"After all, you have a world to save!"

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**Author's note:**

**I got interested in the timeline of the Zelda games a few days ago and this just kind of spawned. In case you don't understand it you probably haven't played either Twilight Princess or Majora's Mask in which case you're really missing out so go and play both of them.**

**Song for this fic: Guru Guru's song/ Song of Storms**

**If you liked it review and I might just make some more Zelda fics, who knows? Maybe miracles do happen? :D**

**(Fi estimates that there is a 89.9% possibility of a miracle happening if I get enough positive reviews)**


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